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SASQUATCH! BAND PROFILE #4: Interview with Zach Rogue of Rogue Wave

Four years ago Zach Rogue was working a day job developing Web sites for a dot-com when events unfolded that left Rogue jobless. So what’s a newly unemployed Bay-Area twenty-something to do with all that newfound time? Start a band of course.

Shortly after losing his job, Rogue began recording songs he had previously written and the result was “Out of the Shadows,” Rogue Wave’s 2004 Sub Pop debut. The record is a grouping of songs that feature jangled guitars layered between tight rhythms, poppy sounds and Rogue’s whimsical, yet forceful vocals.

“I had no idea what I was going to do next, it was a real fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of situation,” Rogue said about recording his first album. “But it was a real great experience.”

“It was mostly accidental,” Rogue said. “I was coming from a place where
I wasn’t knowing what I was doing and I definitely didn’t think of it as a career move. I thought it was going to be more of a creative endeavor. It was all sort of unexpected.”

ROgue Wave

Aside from the circumstances that spawned it, what makes “Out of the
Shadows” more impressive is that Rogue recorded all the parts himself, making the record a solo project in essence.

Since the album was a success, Rogue got himself a band, toured and went on to record “Descended Like Vultures,” a more well-polished and defined album than its predecessor and Rogue’s first recorded with a band.

Although Rogue Wave’s career is still burgeoning, its first two albums are critical favorites and the satisfaction Rogue gets from making music means he’ll likely not go back to his former day job any time soon.

“I can honestly say I really appreciate making music for people and expressing creativity through my music instead of making something intangible for a CEO,” Rogue said.